Red Demons sweep rival Buffaloes

Saturday

Apr 20, 2013 at 12:26 AMApr 20, 2013 at 12:30 AM

By John CurtisDodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City Red Demons had their bats on fire Friday night in claiming a doubleheader sweep over the Garden City Buffaloes in a Western Athletic Conference doubleheader at Demon Field.Six different Red Demons knocked in runs in the 9-4 victory in the opener of the twinbill; and eight of the nine who went to the plate in 10-4 win to complete the sweep brought in a run.“Our batters, one through nine, did well at the plate today,” said Dodge City head coach Daniel Rogers. “We were able to get runs home when we had the chances. For the most part, we did well running the bases and only had one bad inning defensively; but those are things we can clean up Monday (in practice).”The Demons (8-3, 3-1) were coming off what their coaches said was an embarrassing effort Tuesday in losing two games because of the players were too cold and not interested in playing. Rogers gave the a heart-to-heart message during their two intense days of practice before getting ready to play the Buffaloes.“We told them they have to play with heart,” Rogers said. “We know we’re not the most athletic team out here but if we play with a purpose, then we have a chance to win most games.”The Red Demons scored in every inning they went to bat but the fourth.Dodge City led 1-0 in the first on a RBI single by Dakota Duckett; and increased the lead to 3-0 on a RBI single by Austin Weiser followed by a RBI double by Jordan Doan.Garden City scored two runs in the top of the third Eric Montoya had a RBI sacrifice fly, then earned a second run on a Dodge City error.The Demons came back with three in the bottom of the frame on RBI singles by Collin Gifford and Jackson Oldham; then Gifford scored from third base on a double steal as the Buffaloes got Oldham out at second base.The Buffaloes used the same ingredients to score on the fourth: a sacrifice fly by Logan Dechant, followed by a run scoring on a Demon error.The Demons made the score 7-4 in the fifth on Oldham’s second RBI single; and closed out the scoring in the sixth on a RBI triple by Arrin Tieben and a RBI single by Gifford.Weiser was the winning pitcher throwing a complete game. Only two of the runs the left-hander gave up were earned.Duckett put the Demons ahead on an RBI infield hit; but Garden City answered in the second, scoring four runs with the help of two Dodge City errors.Their lead was shortlived as Dodge City scored four of its own in the bottom of the second to take a 5-4 lead. Andrew Balderaz had a RBI infield hit, a bases-loaded walk was issued to Doan, and Gideon Wells hit a two-run single.“That’s one thing I liked about our team today in that we gave up those runs because of errors, but were able to bounce right back and get them back,” Rogers said.Dodge City made the score 7-4 in the third on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Ontiberos and a RBI single by Weiser. The Red Demons closed out the game with three in the fourth on a RBI triple by Duckett, a RBI double by Gifford and a RBI single by Eric Reid.Balderaz also threw a complete game to get the win with none of the runs charged to him earned.The Demons return to action Tuesday with another league doubleheader against Liberal at Demon Field.“All the league games are important because it looks like it’s going to come down to us and Hays for the league title,” Rogers said. “We have to continue to play tough if we want to win the league.”

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